The election of Justin Trudeau with a big majority is not particularly surprising and it’s not necessarily a bad thing, either.

From the beginning of the campaign, the majority of people wanted a change from Stephen Harper’s style of government, and understandably so. Once they figured out which party could deliver that change, the bandwagon got rolling. Even at the best of times for the Conservatives, the only road to success is a strong vote split between the other two parties. With Trudeau’s superior poll numbers, the people who wanted to get rid of Harper had an easy and obvious choice. There was just no point in voting NDP, unless you were a party diehard.

Trudeau’s timing couldn’t have been better, but full credit to him for running a hard, disciplined campaign, and to his team for putting together a vote-getting platform and making the most of their leader’s assets. No one handed him this election. Trudeau won it.

Whether one supported him or not, it has to be said that Canada’s next prime minister has some upside. He’s young, enthusiastic and maybe a touch idealistic. If the persona he projected to the public in this election is genuine, that’s what Canada needs. Politics can be a dirty business, but there is no rule that says it has to be.

Changing the tone in politics would go a long way towards restoring respect for government and politicians. The public is sick of the constant partisan attacks. Under Harper, Conservative politicians couldn’t see much good in the other parties and so-called progressives attacked Conservatives from every conceivable angle. Darkly amusing when one considers how little difference there really is between the policies the three parties proposed.

Trudeau has certainly shown a gift for connecting with people, and charming them. That alone won’t make him a good prime minister, but people were clearly tired of the angry boss style of leadership. Even for a person with the powers of a prime minister, politics is really about persuasion.

Trudeau will have a lot of help in his new job, and he seems willing to take advice. The new Liberal team has many people who have accomplished something in life, although the vast majority are new to politics. If they can make the difficult transition to working in the public eye, they could serve the country well. The fact that the Liberal caucus has representation from across the Canada is a good thing, too.

Trudeau’s Liberals are much like a baseball team that looks good in spring training. The real test starts now. The new leader has promised a lot of things to a lot of people. While it has often been said that the Conservatives lowered expectations for Trudeau, he has raised them for himself. Trudeau comes across as a guy who believes that government can make just about anything better. It’s not a view well supported by history.

Trudeau has promised “real change,” but the big idea in the Liberal policy book is borrowing $8 billion or $9 billion a year to spend on stuff. The Liberals rightly deduced that most people either don’t understand why deficits matter, or don’t care.

The Liberal campaign team has been adept at making things sound good, but as he switches gears from campaigning to governing, Trudeau will have to avoid the temptation to settle for meagre accomplishments enhanced by spin. That’s not real change. It’s business as usual.

Perhaps his biggest challenge will be not letting his victory go to his head. When a political leader wins a big majority, it’s easy for him to assume that he’s a genius, everyone loves him and all his ideas are popular with the public.

Wrong, wrong, and wrong. Trudeau was a beneficiary of good timing, most people didn’t vote for him, and it’s safe to bet that they will be surprised by a lot of things in his platform.

All that’s why being prime minister is the toughest job in the country. We will soon find out if Trudeau is ready.

Randall Denley is a strategic communications consultant and former Ontario PC candidate. Contact him at randalldenley1@gmail.com

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